Bloomberg boosts Paterson's sugar tax plan

It’s some three hours before lawmakers are set to go into session, and Gov. Paterson, at a meeting of the NYC Financial Control Board, just got a boost from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said he too, hopes lawmakers pass the governor’s proposed penny an ounce tax on sugary sodas and drinks.

Lawmakers have shown no inclination to pass the tax, or even to act on Paterson’s other proposals, but Bloomberg noted that the tax could bring in $1 billion a year.

“The days of saying ‘All of the above’ for the public, are over,” said Bloomberg.

“Simply trying to patch things together and muddle through is no way” to deal with the budget’s challenges, Bloomberg added. “The day of reckoning is here.”

Meanwhile Ron Deutsch, of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness was working the Capitol’s press offices in advance of lawmakers’ arrival, (they are scheduled for a 6 pm session) handing out flyers with an article laying out why a property tax cap is a poor idea.

Along with the sugar tax, Paterson is calling for lawmakers to pass a 4 percent property tax cap (New Jersey recently passed a similar measure and Massachusetts already has one). There’s no indication at all that the Democrats who control the Assembly are set to pass a tax cap, however.